How did European culture, society, and population change in the late 20th and early 21st centuries?
Topic 9.14 20th- and 21st-Century Culture, Arts, and Demographic Trends: the cultural, intellectual, and artistic developments of the contemporary era and the demographic changes (ageing, migration, secularization) reshaping European society.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.14, on contemporary culture, arts, and demographics: the diverse, global, and consumer-driven culture of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the rise of mass and popular culture, and the demographic trends of ageing populations, immigration, and secularization reshaping European society.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 9.14 asks you to explain the culture, arts, and demographic trends of the late 20th and early 21st centuries: the cultural and artistic developments of the contemporary era and the demographic changes, ageing, migration, and secularization, reshaping European society. The College Board wants you to see how both culture and population transformed contemporary Europe.
Contemporary culture and the arts
Ageing populations
Migration and secularization
Two further trends reshaped who Europeans were.
Why it mattered
The cultural and demographic trends of the contemporary era describe the Europe of the present. They continue the cultural transformations of earlier units, the modern experiment of the early 20th century (Topic 8.10), now amplified by mass media and globalization, while adding decisive demographic change. These trends made Europe more diverse, open, and secular, but they also created the tensions, over the cost of an ageing society and over immigration and national identity, that run through contemporary politics and connect directly to the backlash against globalization (Topic 9.13). They are the human texture of the world in which the course ends.
Try this
Q1. Name three demographic trends reshaping contemporary Europe. [Recall]
- Cue. Ageing populations and falling birth rates, large-scale immigration and growing diversity, and advancing secularization.
Q2. Explain how demographic change both enriched and strained European society. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Immigration and secularization made Europe more diverse, open, and secular, but ageing populations strained pension and welfare systems built for a younger society, and immigration raised debates over integration and national identity, tensions central to contemporary politics.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2019 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE feature of contemporary European culture. Briefly describe ONE demographic trend. Briefly explain ONE way these changes reshaped European society.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per task.
A. Describe: a diverse, global, consumer-driven culture, with mass and popular culture spread by media and technology.
B. Demographic trend: ageing populations and falling birth rates, large-scale immigration, and growing secularization.
C. How they reshaped society: they made Europe more diverse and secular but also strained welfare systems and raised debates over identity.
Markers want a cultural feature, a demographic trend, and a social effect.
AP 2021 (style)6 marksEvaluate the extent to which demographic change reshaped European society in the contemporary era.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point continuity-and-change rubric.
Thesis (1): "Demographic change profoundly reshaped contemporary European society, as ageing populations, immigration, and secularization transformed its makeup, while raising tensions over welfare and identity."
Contextualization (1): postwar prosperity, decolonization, and globalization.
Evidence (2): ageing and falling birth rates; large-scale immigration and growing diversity; secularization and changing values.
Analysis (2): weigh the scale of demographic change against continuities, then add complexity by linking it to debates over welfare and national identity.
Related dot points
- Topic 9.13 Globalization: the deepening economic, technological, and cultural interconnection of the contemporary world, its effects on Europe, and the tensions and reactions it provoked.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.13, on globalization: the deepening economic, technological, and cultural interconnection of the contemporary world, its transformation of European economies and societies, the role of migration and integration, and the tensions and backlash it provoked.
- Topic 9.9 Decolonization: the rapid dismantling of the European overseas empires after World War II, its causes (nationalism, European weakness, Cold War ideals), and its consequences for Europe and the world.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.9, on decolonization: how and why the European overseas empires were dismantled after World War II, the roles of anti-colonial nationalism, European weakness, and Cold War pressures, and the consequences including new nations, migration, and lasting global ties.
- Topic 9.8 20th-Century Feminism: the achievements of the women's movements of the 20th century, from suffrage to the postwar feminist movement, and how they transformed women's legal, political, and social position.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.8, on 20th-century feminism: the winning of the vote in the early 20th century, the wartime expansion of women's roles, the postwar feminist movement's campaigns for legal, economic, and reproductive equality, and the transformation of women's position in European society.
- Topic 8.10 20th-Century Cultural, Intellectual, and Artistic Developments: how the new physics, psychology, and the trauma of war reshaped European thought and produced the experiments of modern art and literature.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.10, on early 20th-century thought and culture: how relativity and the new physics, Freudian psychology, and the trauma of the world wars overturned 19th-century certainties and produced the bold experiments of modern art, literature, and philosophy.
- Topic 9.6 Contemporary Western Democracies: the development of stable, prosperous welfare-state democracies in postwar western Europe, their politics and social change, and the challenges they faced.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.6, on contemporary Western democracies: how postwar western Europe built stable, prosperous welfare-state democracies, the rise of consumer society and social change, the politics of consensus and protest, and the challenges of economic downturn and social tension.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)